Getting around

Unit 14. City and town. Now Unit 15 — Transport. — Тра́нспорт. Every city runs on movement, and Russian gathers all of it under one word you'll recognise the moment you hear it: — тра́нспорт. Underneath that umbrella sit the everyday ways of getting around — the bus, the car, the metro, the train. A few you already half-know, because Russian borrowed them whole. We'll meet eight of them here, one at a time, just by name. No grammar yet — only the sound and the thing. — Авто́бус. Bus. — Авто́бус. av-TO-boos — stress on the middle. Masculine. — Маши́на. Car. — Маши́на. ma-SHEE-na. Feminine. — Метро́. The metro. — Метро́. me-TRO. Borrowed whole — and it never changes its ending, ever. Remember that; it makes lesson 2 easy. — Такси́. Taxi. — Такси́. tak-SEE. Also borrowed, also never changes. — Трамва́й. Tram. — Трамва́й. tram-VAI. Masculine. — Тролле́йбус. Trolleybus. — Тролле́йбус. tra-LYEY-boos. A bus that runs on overhead wires — common in Russian cities. Masculine. — Самолёт. Airplane. — Самолёт. sa-ma-LYOT — that ё is always stressed. Masculine. — По́езд. Train. — По́езд. PO-yest — the final д softens to a 't'. Masculine. Eight ways to get around: — авто́бус, маши́на, метро́, такси́, трамва́й, тролле́йбус, самолёт, по́езд. In lesson 2, we say how you travel — Я еду на авто́бусе.

bus

av-TO-boos — masculine

car

ma-SHEE-na — feminine

metro

me-TRO — never changes

taxi

tak-SEE — never changes

tram

tram-VAI — masculine

trolleybus

tra-LYEY-boos — masculine

airplane

sa-ma-LYOT — masculine

train

PO-yest — masculine (final d softens to 't')

Say it back.

Try saying 'bus' — av-TO-boos

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'car' — ma-SHEE-na

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'trolleybus' — tra-LYEY-boos

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'airplane' — sa-ma-LYOT

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

bus

car

airplane

train

Lesson 2. Now you say how you're travelling. — На авто́бусе. Here's one small word that turns a vehicle into a journey: на. Say на and the name of your transport, and you've said how you're getting there — Я еду на авто́бусе. 'I'm going by bus.' You've met this shape already, back with — на столе́. and — в магази́не. so it isn't new machinery — just a familiar ending doing a new job. Two of these never change at all. — Я еду на метро́. Bare — метро́. never shifts. And — Я еду на такси́. Also bare. Those two you just lift in whole. The rest take that same gentle -е you already know. — Авто́бус. becomes — Я еду на авто́бусе. Hear the ending — на авто́бусе. The same -е from — на столе́. Я еду на трамва́е. Я еду на по́езде. And — Я еду на маши́не. Learn each as a set phrase — there's nothing to take apart. Two stay bare, — метро́. and — такси́. the others take the quiet -е. Next, the difference Russian always draws: walking or riding.

I'm going by metro

ya YE-doo na me-TRO — bare, no change

I'm going by taxi

ya YE-doo na tak-SEE — bare, no change

I'm going by bus

…na av-TO-boo-sye — the familiar -е

I'm going by tram

…na tram-VA-ye

I'm going by train

…na PO-yez-dye

I'm going by car

…na ma-SHEE-nye

What are you going by?

na CHOM ty YE-dyesh — the question that asks for your transport

Say it back.

Try saying 'by metro' — na me-TRO

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'by taxi' — na tak-SEE

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'by bus' — na av-TO-boo-sye

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'by tram' — na tram-VA-ye

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'by train' — na PO-yez-dye

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Say it back.

Try saying 'by car' — na ma-SHEE-nye

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Asking someone how they get to work

Here is the whole lesson in two turns. На чём? is simply 'by what?' — the question that reaches for a vehicle, and the на you have been practising all lesson comes back inside the answer. Notice that Макси́м doesn't shorten anything: he repeats на работу and adds на автобусе, because Russian is happy to name the destination and the transport in the same breath. You already own every piece of his reply — я еду from earlier, на работу from Макси́м's working day, and на автобусе from this lesson's very first slide. Ask the question, and the answer is a sentence you can already build.

What do you go to work by?

Ка́тя

I go to work by bus.

Макси́м

Lesson 3. Walk, or ride? Russian draws a line English usually skips right over. On your own two feet, it's — Я иду́. — the very phrase you used in the city, walking — в магази́н. — Я иду́. The moment you climb into anything with wheels or wings, it becomes — Я еду. — на авто́бусе, на метро́, на по́езде. — Я еду. Same 'I'm going,' two different words — and the only thing that chooses between them is your feet. Listen to the two side by side. — Я еду на метро́. — А я иду́. One rides, one walks. Two phrases, learned whole — that's all you need here. A couple of words that ride along. — Ме́дленно. — slowly. — Ме́дленно. And its opposite — бы́стро. — quickly. — бы́стро. And the city's own transport — городско́й тра́нспорт. — Городско́й тра́нспорт. One you'll want at a stop — сле́дующая остано́вка. the next stop. — Сле́дующая остано́вка. One last thing simply to recognise, never to build yourself yet: a train 'goes' under its own power, and Russians reach for the on-foot word for it — по́езд идёт. Don't make that sentence yourself; just know it when it rolls past.

Crossing town — on foot, or by bus?

Picture the same short trip two ways. You could walk it — Я иду в центр — the way you did when the city was new. Or, if the day is cold or the distance longer, you ride — Я еду на автобусе. Russian keeps these apart so naturally that a learner's first instinct, to use one word for both, is the thing to unlearn early. A quick way to feel the difference: на метро это бы́стро — the metro is quick — where your own two feet would be slow. One curiosity simply to recognise, never to build yourself yet: a train 'goes' under its own power, and Russians reach for the on-foot word for it — по́езд идёт. Don't make that sentence yourself; just know it when it rolls past.

I'm going by metro.

Ка́тя

And I'm walking.

Макси́м

quickly

BYS-tra — quickly (⚠ «ы» — Anna clip)

slowly

MYED-lye-na — slowly

city transport

ga-rad-SKOY trans-PORT — recognises городской

the next stop

SLYE-doo-yu-shcha-ya as-ta-NOF-ka — sets up L4

Say it back.

Give it a go — say it out loud, however it comes.

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Lesson 4. When you need to find your way to transport, you already have the key: Где…?, 'where is…?' — the same question you've been asking since the early units. Now point it at the places that get you moving. Остано́вка — *the stop.* — Остано́вка. Где остано́вка? Ста́нция — *a station, metro or rail.* — Ста́нция. Где ста́нция? Вокза́л — *the grand rail terminal.* — Вокза́л. Аэропо́рт — *the airport.* You can almost hear the English inside it. — Аэропо́рт. Ка́сса — *the ticket window,* where the journey begins. — Ка́сса. And what you buy there — биле́т, *a ticket.* — Биле́т. Где ка́сса? — and then, биле́т. Same question you already knew, new destinations. Next, you put the whole trip together.

(bus/tram) stop

as-ta-NOF-ka — feminine

station

STAN-tsi-ya — feminine; metro or rail

(rail) terminal

vag-ZAL — masculine; the grand rail terminal

airport

a-e-ra-PORT — masculine

ticket office

KAS-sa — feminine; the ticket window

ticket

bee-LYET — masculine

May I have a ticket to Moscow, please?

MOZH-na bi-LYET v mask-VOO, pa-ZHAL-sta — the same Мо́жно you used to order coffee

Say it back.

Give it a go — say it out loud, however it comes.

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Where's the (bus/tram) stop?

Where's the station?

Where's the ticket office?

Where's the rail terminal?

Where's the airport?

The places that get you moving

To make sense of Russian transport words, start with the distances. This is the largest country on earth, spanning eleven time zones, and that scale lives quietly inside the everyday vocabulary. A вокза́л isn't simply a 'station' — it's a grand rail terminal built for journeys measured in nights rather than minutes, often the proudest building in a town. A по́езд might carry you two days across open country, strangers sharing tea down an open carriage. Even the city метро́ can be a marble hall buried underground. So when you ask Где вокзал? or Где станция?, you're not just locating a platform — you're finding the door to a country that has always moved by rail. The nearer words handle the nearer trips: остано́вка for the local stop, ка́сса for the ticket window where the journey begins.

At the ticket window

This is the касса, and the sentence that opens it is one you have had since the café: Мо́жно… пожа́луйста? Ask for coffee or ask for a ticket — the frame never changes, only the thing you name. The one new turn is в Москву́: when a journey has a destination, Москва leans into в Москву, the same small lean you met with в магази́н. Макси́м's reply is pure courtesy — да, коне́чно, and вот, the little word you use when you hand something over. Two lines, and you have bought a seat on a train across the largest country on earth.

May I have a ticket to Moscow, please?

Ка́тя

Yes, of course. Here's your ticket.

Макси́м

Lesson 5 — the capstone. Now you put it together the way a real trip unfolds: find the stop, check it's the right bus, buy your ticket, and ride. Everything you need is already in hand from the last four lessons. First, the phrase for how you travel, back once more. — Я еду на авто́бусе. Now listen to Макси́м take the trip. — До́брое у́тро! Сего́дня я еду в центр. — Снача́ла я иду́ на остано́вку — вот она́. — А вот и авто́бус. — Я еду на авто́бусе. Хорошо́! Hear the two 'going' words doing their jobs, just as you learned them: иду́ on foot to the stop, еду by bus into the centre. A whole short journey, start to finish — and every line is something you can now say yourself. That's Unit 15. Е́дем!

I'm going by bus

na av-TO-boo-sye — the L2 phrase, back for the trip

Good morning! Today I'm going to the centre.

DO-bra-ye OO-tra! si-VOD-nya ya YE-doo v tsentr.

First I walk to the stop — there it is.

sna-CHA-la ya ee-DOO na as-ta-NOF-koo — vot a-NA.

And here's the bus.

a vot ee av-TO-boos.

I'm riding the bus. Good!

ya YE-doo na av-TO-boo-sye. ha-ra-SHO!

Say it back.

Give it a go — say it out loud, however it comes.

I didn't hear anything — give it a try when you're ready.

Макси́м's morning trip

Макси́м takes a short morning trip. Good morning, he says — today he's going to the centre: Сегодня я еду в центр. First he walks to the stop: Сначала я иду на остановку. There it is. And here comes the bus — А вот и автобус. He rides it: Я еду на автобусе. Хорошо! Notice the two 'going' words doing their jobs, just as you learned them: иду on foot to the stop, еду by bus. Everything here is something you can now say — a whole short journey, start to finish, in Russian.